Some stars fade with time, some entertainers excel in their later years. Morgan Freeman didn't hit the A-list until after he was 50 years old. So it's no surprise that a celebrity is returning to the stage in 2009.
Except that this 'celebrity' is Jane Hanoi Fonda. After 40 years of exile from the stage, and slightly less time from movie screens, Hanoi Jane is returning to the stage to see if anyone remembers her actions during and since Viet Nam.
Well to be accurate, someone is betting that this traitor (in my opinion) still has fans somewhere and that they will see her perform. Obviously I am not one of those people. More likely I would be in front of the theater protesting and wishing for the play to fail.
The play is called 33 variations. It will be performed at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre from February 9th until May 24th. It is my sincere and ardent plea that none of my readers see it.
I do not like Hanoi Jane Fonda. I despise the actions she took in the 1970's that harmed American soldiers. I have never seen anything she has been in, and intend to stay that way until I die. My words and thoughts of Hanoi Jane are decidedly too graphic, dark, and vulgar for my blog - but I think you can understand what I would say in person.
I realize that Hanoi Jane apologized, 30 years after the fact, for her actions in Viet Nam. I also realize that she did this in a book as a means of gaining profit. I do not accept an apology decades after the fact where it is the means of soliciting a sale. That is not remorse. That is not sincere.
In the past decade there have been a couple of attempts by Hanoi Jane to re-enter Hollywood movies and the fame she once long ago enjoyed. Each movie she has been in over that period, and I believe in the last 30 years, has been a failure. The only exception I recall is the last film of her father, Henry Fonda, On Golden Pond. That film likely only succeeded due to his extreme age and death thereafter.
Hanoi Jane Fonda is a repugnant human being. I would happily pay a woman to hit her, in the face, with brass knuckles. I seriously don't like her, her performances, and her beliefs.
I feel bad for the other actors and actresses that have the sad obligation to perform with Hanoi Jane. I am sure many of them are good, and having this blot appear beside them sullies their abilities. I feel bad that I am asking for several people in front of and behind the stage to loose their jobs because of this woman. But that sadness is as nothing compared to the pain and suffering American men and women felt in this nation and in Viet Nam due to her actions.
If Hanoi Jane Fonda wants to make more movies or act on stage I suggest she go to an audience that likes her. North Viet Nam once welcomed her and I am sure they would do so again with open arms. Perhaps the Communists in Bejing would care to see 33 variations. And I'm sure Fidel and Raul Castro would force a packed house for anything she might do.
But here in America I say Hanoi Jane Fonda is an unwelcome eyesore. And I hope for the singularly worst reviews and absolute failure of this play while she performs in it.
Do let me know if you agree or not.
6 comments:
Jane Fonda should be tried for treason and incarcerated. She mocked tortured American POW's. She should leave this country and move somewhere else; she is not an American citizen.
I just saw Jane Fonda in "33 Variations" last night and she (and the play) was excellent.
I am 59 yr old man, was 18 yrs old during the Vietnam War, and had a high school buddy die in that war. (I was number 360 so was never drafted. Never volunteered, but would have served if drafted.)
Leave Jane Fonda alone. Many good Americans protested that war. I think you just hate the idea of a woman being aggressive with her views.
Why this intelligent and courageous American woman is being blamed for all the wrongs of Vietnam, I'll never know.
If there were more Jane Fonda's during that time, we never would have continued that immoral war.
Why aren't you so angry at LBJ, or JFK or Henry Kissinger? Maybe men should be strong and brave, and women weak and submissive?
She shouldn't have appeared in Hanoi. We all agree to that. Get over it. Her actions never put one American life in danger.
Our idiot generals and politicians did that.
Get over it. She was outspoken during a period when there was a lot to be outspoken about. Did she go too far? Yes, but the bottom line is it was a drastically unpopular and controversial war. She was not alone. And she was young.
Charlie,
Well it’s nice to know that Hanoi Jane has fans somewhere in the world. I am still not one of them.
I don’t care if Hanoi Jane was able to have a performance that would make God weep, I will not support anything she has done or will do. My basis is not that she is a woman, I never discussed her intelligence, and by her own volition she was a figurehead for many of the far-left liberals in the nation, then and now.
Some may be able to ignore her past, or they might even agree with her traitorous actions. That is the freedom that America affords it’s citizens, which is only possible by the actions of our brave soldiers every day. I am not one of those that can let such actions as those of Hanoi Jane pass. For every action there is a reaction.
You chose not to volunteer for your nations needs, I can respect that. My father volunteered at 19, and though not at a time of war I and several of my family members would later do the same. I hope you can respect that. For many in this nation, the ability to defend all the values and rights we receive is an honor. Even when others that are blessed by its coverage piss on the thought.
Now you accuse me of being angry with Jane Hanoi Fonda due to her sex. Please do point out where I make such a statement. In re-reading my post I found no such indication. Of course you may be trying to deflect attention from my arguments. And if that is your attempt I believe you failed miserably.
I do not blame Hanoi Jane for all the wrongs of Viet Nam, but I do for the actions she took and helped to foster. If you cannot see the difference I cannot help you. And you may be right, in that she had to be quite courageous to stand in front of the nation and reveal herself as the unrepentant traitor she is.
Morality and war are not akin. They are completely askew. Had you ever served in the military you would know that. At the same time the Viet Nam War was a political and ideological battle, not moral. Confusing the 2 is a grave error. You are substituting your personal preferences for factual actions, which does not justify them.
Now as for JFK, LBJ, and many others, I have different issues. Why do they not incur my wrath as much? They did not commit traitorous acts. Their decisions may have had bad consequences, and may have been based on faulty assumptions, but that is not treason. Jane Hanoi Fonda committed treason, or do you not get that.
Oh, and please do not try to subvert what I am saying with misleading and distracting comments presuming to infer comments I have not said. I have not discussed the roles of men and women, at that time or any other, rather the actions of one woman who sided with the enemies of this nation at a time of war. Do you get that?
And perhaps you want to get over it, ignoring facts to please they views you want to hold on to. I prefer the facts, and I am happy to say they back-up my views without distortion being required. Your comments sound like the re-imagined delusions of Bill Ayers as he distorted his past to gain a profit and a better place in history than he deserves.
The past, especially the recent past, should not be re-invented to benefit the ideals of a fanatical few. Were we to follow that path, Neo-Nazi’s would have us believe that there was no holocaust. Such blatant lies and deceit are not what America stands for.
And yes, demoralizing the troops, their families and creating an environment of disdain for the military does endanger the lives of our troops. Actively promoting the enemies of our nation, and in doing so enabling them to gain support and funding internationally does endanger the lives of our troops. Yes Hanoi Jane did endanger, and likely enabled the deaths, of some Americans. Again actions have consequences, whether you like them or not.
But you enjoyed the play. I’m sure Hanoi Jane enjoyed your money. Perhaps she will send it to Al Quida, or to Venezuela, or Cuba. Some nation that hates America and our freedoms, that would likely never extend those freedoms to Hanoi Jane or other liberals if they ever dared live their.
And before you take the next step to honor the dishonorable actions of this woman, answer one question for me. Once she and other extreme far-left liberals created an atmosphere of hate of our troops (not the politicians that created their orders but the troops themselves), and cause the first retreat of the nation, why were they all silent as 3 million Vietnamese were slaughtered by the very same people they championed? Even to this day? Isn’t that morally reprehensible?
Maria,
I am glad that you like Charlie have the freedom to dispute the factual actions of Hanoi Jane. I am glad to have once sworn to protect your ability to pass off what was done in such a blasé manner, with my life if needed. Even more I thank the men and women of the nation that continue to defend this nation with their lives, every day, without question.
But you want me to get over this. I’m sure similar words were said to slaves that complained about the quality of their lives, just before they were whipped. I’m sure that Japanese Americans were told this before they had their homes and businesses stripped from them and were shuffled off to internment camps. I have no doubt that Native American Indians were told this as they were given disease-ridden blankets and moved to ever more desolate reservations.
Thankfully, many Americans don’t get over it. And that causes things to change for the better. How dare you tell me such a thing. She committed acts of treason, placed another nation before her own, and in doing so gave comfort to those that would destroy our people. I won’t get over that. You might, and you have the freedom to do so, but don’t thank Jane Hanoi Fonda for that Right. Thank the soldiers.
And let’s get it right, she wasn’t just outspoken. She was actively involved. A protest is one thing, traveling to the enemies nation during war and promoting them is another. Would you be so cavalier if she had gone to Germany and taken photos with or spoken favorably about the Nazi’s and Hitler? Because there is no difference in what she did.
Hanoi Jane was not alone. People like Bill Ayers were alongside her extreme views as well. But somehow I doubt if you would support Sean Penn taking photos hanging out with Osama Bin Laden, or praise people like Timothy McVeigh. Yet you are doing just that.
And there is no excuse for being young. Hanoi Jane, Bill Ayers and other such radicals were not children. They were not 15. They were grown adults, with educations, and a clear understanding of their actions.
Were this the mistake of youth, I doubt that it would have taken 30+ years for Hanoi Jane to make a half-hearted apology. And that apology was just a minor portion of a book that she was hawking at the time. I hardly call that sincere. (Ayers has never apologized or repented for his actions)
You may justify the actions of Hanoi Jane all you wish. I prefer the factual actions she made and then lived with since. I do not feel she has been repentant in any manner. As such I will refer to her as she should be, traitor. And I will never support the actions of a traitor.
Comment as found at Hollywood Gossip Blog, where I am a contributing author.
Flu-Bird Says:
May 8th, 2009 at 3:08 am e
I havnt watched a JANE FONDA movie since THE CHINA SYNDROME but i was more liberal then but frankly i wouldnt bother wasting my money on any of her crummy movies especaly THE ELECTRIC HORSEMAN its just another one of her putrid movies she did with robert REDford and i wont be watching any of his movies ether
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